How to Make a Climbing Rose Look Fuller

Question: I have a climbing rose going up over an arbor, but it looks sparse and skinny. What can I give it to make it grow more full and cover the arbor better?

Answer: There’s a very easy way to make a climbing rose look fuller and more interesting even when it’s not flowering. Plant another climber alongside it, and let this second climbing plant scramble up and through the climbing rose. The classic choice for this is clematis. This trick works well with shrubs, too—read how.

Image attribution and rights
___________________________________________________
Grow great roses with Horticulture‘s Roses CD, a collection of articles on rose care and types of roses by rose experts.

One thought on “How to Make a Climbing Rose Look Fuller”

Your soil should be the first place you look for the overall health of any plant. You need to add compost/composted manure by carefully digging or “scratching” around the base – without severing any main roots – and mixing compost into the soil about 6-12 inches wide and deep. Then prune and feed with a decent (organic preferably) rose fertilizer. If the plant is not near any water/stream or area where you grow crops you will eat then you might also think about a systemic rose fertilizer that will feed & keep bugs/fungus from depleting your plants health. But the soil is key!!